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The ready meals were produced by Comigel, a French firm also linked to contaminated products at Findus and Aldi.

New figures for
the 12 weeks to February 17 indicate how consumers have responded to the
scandal, and suggests shoppers are changing the products they buy
rather than the supermarkets they buy them from.

Edward
Garner, director of Kantar Worldpanel, which compiled the figures, said: 'The issue has so far only affected the performance of
individual markets rather than where consumers are choosing to shop.

'For the four weeks ending February
17, frozen burger sales were down by 43 per cent and frozen ready meals
declined by 13 per cent, clearly demonstrating a change in shopping
habits.

'Tesco's share has come under
pressure this period with a drop from 30.1 per cent a year ago to 29.7
per cent now,' said Mr Garner.

Criticism: A survey revealed 43 per cent of shoppers regard Findus' response to the horse meat scandal as 'poor'

He added that the decline should not
be attributed entirely to horse meat contamination, as the supermarket
giant introduced heavy promotions this time in 2012 which have not been
repeated for 2013.

THE MAJOR BRANDS AFFECTED SO FAR AS HORSE MEAT SCANDAL CONTINUES TO GATHER PACE

Nestle - the world’s biggest food comapny - announces it is removing beef ready meals from sale in Italy and Spain after its own tests found more than one per cent horsemeat DNA in its beef ravioli and tortellini.

Birds Eye removes three beef ready meals from sale in the UK and Ireland after one of its products being sold in Belgium tested positive for horse DNA

Revealed that packs of Findus frozen lasagne meals being sold around the UK contained up to 100 per cent horse meat. The lasagne packs were manufactured by French company, Comigel, at a plant in Metz, which produces food for supermarkets in Britain and Europe.

Comigel makes a range of beef products for Tesco and Aldi. Both stores begin removing those products as a ‘precautionary measure’.

Asda removes four own-label brands of frozen burgers from sale following the discovery of beef contaminated with horse meat at a manufacturer in Northern Ireland.

Burger King admits to selling burgers contaminated with horsemeat,

Emerges that Asda and Co-op have also been selling burgers contaminated with horsemeat.

Hotel chain Premier Inn removes beef burgers supplied by the company from its restaurants.

It has also revealed schools and hospitals have been serving beef contaminated with horsemeat.

Last week it emerged horse meat had been detected in meatballs on sale in Ikea's in-house restaurants.

'Not repeating this offer will have adversely affected its share,' he said.

He added: 'Waitrose and Aldi deliver all-time record shares this period of 4.8 per cent and 3.3 per cent respectively,' he said.

Mr Garner added that 10.1 per cent
growth at Iceland indicated the frozen food category as a whole 'remains
robust' despite the impact on burger and ready meal sales.

A survey of almost 14,000 meat eaters found 51 per cent would buy horse meat as long as they knew it was bred for eating and was therefore safe.

Of those who said they would eat horse meat, 29 per cent said it would need to be cheaper than beef.

However, 48 per cent said they would refuse horse meat outright, even it if was free, according to the survey conducted by MoneySavingExpert.com.

Founder Martin Lewis said: 'With a majority of meat-eaters saying they would consider buying horse meat, the mislabelling scandal may have opened the door for providers of horse meat into the UK.

'Many who have, albeit unwittingly, already eaten it, now say if it were properly labelled they'd give it a go.'

A separate survey by Ipsos Mori found consumers aged 45 to 54 are the most likely to be willing horse meat consumers (38 per cent), while those aged 16 to 24 are the least likely (21 per cent).

It revealed 33 per cent of Britons expect to buy fewer ready meals in future and 18 per cent will choose fewer Findus products in particular, with 43 per cent saying they considered the company's response to the crisis to be 'poor'.

However they are slightly less critical of other food brands affected by the scandal, with 35 per cent rating Tesco's response as poor and 34 per cent disapproving of Aldi's reaction, while 12 per cent said they planned to reduce their spending at Tesco.

The majority (59 per cent) said the Government should do more to regulate food safety.Ipsos Mori spokesman Stephen Yap said: 'Our findings clearly show that the news of horse meat entering the food supply is having a profound impact on British consumers and has eroded trust in food suppliers.

Changing shopping habits: A survey found 35 per cent of customers regard Tesco's response to the crisis as 'poor', and 12 per cent plan to reduce their spending at the supermarket

'Findus in particular is bearing the brunt of public anger, with widespread calls for greater government intervention.

'As the scandal deepens and new instances of horse meat contamination are uncovered on an almost daily basis, regulators and the food industry must work quickly and take decisive steps to restore consumer confidence that could be damaged for a long time to come.'

THE CO-OPERATIVE: TESTS FOUND NO HORSE MEAT IN OUR OWN BRAND MINCED BEEF PRODUCTS

The Co-Operative said today that none of its own brand minced beef products tested for horsemeat contamination were affected.

Peter Marks, the Group Chief Executive, said in a message to company members: 'In
total, 101 of our products were tested for contamination as part of a
mass testing exercise called for by the Food Standards Agency.

'None
of these products which cover the totality of our current minced beef
food range, have been found to contain any trace of horse DNA.

'Previously,
you may recall, we did discover two lines of our frozen beef burgers
that did contain horse meat and we immediately removed these from our
shelves.

Mr Marks said
the firm was 'pleased' with the results but added: 'We are far from
complacent about a matter which has clearly shaken customer confidence
in the food you eat.

'Our independent testing will continue on a rolling basis to ensure ongoing scrutiny,' he said.

The Co-Operative will review its meat supply chain and introduce 'greater transparency' in the process, said Mr Marks.

'Let
me repeat the sincere apology I made to our customers and members last
week and assure you that we will do all we can to reinforce the
integrity of our products and the trust that we have spent generations
building up,' he added.